Caleb's Blessings

The Bible records multiple statements that Caleb followed God fully. His whole-hearted devotion resulted in multiple blessings. In Numbers 13:6, Caleb was chosen as one of the twelve spies. God didn't specify names, apparently leaving the choice to Moses. God required only that the spies be leaders within their tribes. At age forty, Caleb fit the requirement; his choosing is evidence of his testimony.

Caleb did his duty just like the other men. When the men returned, they acknowledged briefly that the land was good before elaborating on the obstacles, using words like "nevertheless" and "moreover." They didn't yet say that the land couldn't be conquered, but they painted a bleak picture.

Caleb immediately spoke up to contradict the pessimism. "Then Caleb quieted the people before Moses and said, 'We should by all means go up and take possession of it, for we will surely overcome it'" (Numbers 13:30). His leadership skills in quieting a rumbling crowd were rejected, as the people began to protest and grumble, fatalistically desiring a return to Egypt.

Caleb was grieved by this rebellion. He and Joshua tore their clothes. They reiterated the goodness of the land. They expressed their faith in God: "If the LORD is pleased with us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us" (Numbers 14:8). They pled with the people, "Only do not rebel against the LORD" (v. 9). They urged against fear: "And do not fear the people of the land" (v. 9). Their courage and confidence were rooted in faith: "The LORD is with us" (v. 9). Because of their stand of faith and obedience, the people wanted to stone them.

God was upset with the majority but pleased with Caleb. He commended him to Moses: "My servant Caleb ... has had a different spirit and has followed me fully" (Numbers 14:24). God approved of Caleb's distinction and devotion. All the Israelites aged twenty and over would die in the wilderness, but Caleb would survive to possess the land. Moses was instructed to share this information with the multitude, resulting in public acknowledgement of Caleb's faith. In the immediate, Caleb was protected. The other ten spies died immediately by a plague from God; only Caleb and Joshua were spared.

At the end of the forty years of wandering, all of Caleb's generation was dead. The longevity of Joshua and Caleb was remarkable. Apart from these two men, the oldest Israelite was fifty-nine years old. Caleb was eighty. His very existence proclaimed his godliness.

Still Caleb's influence and reputation persisted. In Numbers 32:12 Moses cautioned the two-and-a-half tribes who wanted to stay east of the Jordan river. He reminded them of the fatal consequences of the refusal forty years earlier, and he shared the testimony of Caleb and Joshua. They alone lived, "for they have followed the LORD fully." Forty years later, Caleb still served as an example of devotion to God for a new generation.

Caleb continued to serve. One man from each tribe was appointed to apportion the land, and Caleb was chosen. He was still a leader of his tribe, and this time God chose Caleb by name (Numbers 34:19). Caleb was still trusted and involved.

Shortly before Moses died, he appealed earnestly to the people to follow God faithfully. Who did he choose as an example? Yes, it was Caleb. Moses reminded the people that all who did not trust the LORD had died, but Caleb was spared "because he has followed the LORD fully" (Deuteronomy 1:32).

Finally, it was time to divide the land. Caleb, now eighty-five years old, came to Joshua to claim his inheritance. In doing so, he shared his testimony from the time of spying. He told Joshua, "I brought word back to [Moses] as it was in my heart" (Joshua 14:7) and "I followed the LORD my God fully" (v. 8). God had already confirmed multiple times that Caleb's testimony was true.

Caleb was still a man of faith, ready to claim the land God had promised him. "I am still as strong today as I was in the day Moses sent me; as my strength was then, so my strength is now" (v. 11). He acknowledged God as the one who had preserved him (v. 10). Even though it meant a challenge, he was still ready to obey God in claiming his inheritance: "Give me this hill country about which the LORD spoke on that day" (v. 12). He claimed God's help in accomplishing the task. "The LORD will be with me, and I will drive them out as the LORD has spoken" (v. 12). Joshua blessed Caleb (v. 13) and gave him Hebron as his inheritance "because he followed the LORD God of Israel fully" (v. 14).

Caleb saw what no one else of his generation saw, except Joshua. He actually inherited the land that God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He saw with his own eyes what had been anticipated during four hundred years of slavery.

The job was not easy. His inheritance, Hebron, was precisely where the dreaded Anakim lived in their great fortified cities. The area was actually named after the greatest Anakim of all (v. 15). Caleb drove out the three sons of Anak and went on to take Debir, offering marriage with his daughter to the man who would conquer it. He had the joy of seeing his daughter married to a good man, (who would later be a leader as well), and supplied with a good possession.

Finally, Caleb's city Hebron ended up with the distinction of being a city of refuge, with the added honor that it was a city in which the Levites lived. While Caleb possessed the surrounding fields and villages, he enjoyed the blessing of the Levite presence (Joshua 21:12).

Continuing responsibility, divine commendation, public reputation, fulfilled promises, long life, inspiring example, divine help, established family, pleasant surroundings - all of these came to Caleb because he followed God fully.